Economic Growth, Wildlife and the New Economic Forum.

Before getting on my soap box about Economic Growth and Wildlife I'd like to show you a few more photos from our own small wildlife garden area which has an equally small pond!

Recent photos from our wildlife garden

An insect on Wild Carrot

Bumble Bee on a Spear Thistle flower head.

I was really pleased to find this Dragonfly apparently laying eggs on an old log at the side of our small pond. I thought they laid their eggs in or on aquatic plants.

But here is the subject of this post.

Statements in the news bulletins today and speeches by the Governor of the Bank of England managed to relate the UK economy with the sporting performances in the Olympic Games. If only we could all work together with a common goal of reestablishing economic growth we will all be OK.

Surely everyone who has been around for a few years must know that continuous economic growth year in and year out can only end in disaster for our beautiful Somerset and our planet.

That's why I have become interested in the work of the New Economic Forum. 

Below is an extract from their web site:

*******************************************************

"Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist" - Kenneth Boulding

There is nothing ‘natural’ about our current economic arrangements. They have been consciously designed to achieve a simple objective: growth. But growth is not making us happier, it is creating dysfunctional and unequal societies, and if it continues will make large parts of the planet unfit for human habitation.

We need to do things differently, and soon.

This means starting from first principles and building a new model for how the economy functions. Right now every one of us is dependent on growth. The way our economy is structured means that unless there is growth people lose their jobs, the tax base shrinks and politicians struggle to fund the public services we all rely on every day.

At nef, we want to break that vicious cycle by building a new macro-economic model that is geared not towards growth, but towards achieving the outcomes that are important to society and that can be sustained by the planet's finite carrying capacity. 

Anger over plans to weaken EU wildlife protection | The Wildlife Trusts

Anger over plans to weaken EU wildlife protection | The Wildlife Trusts

The national organisation supporting the Wildlife Trusts around the counties has a web page( see above link) to communicate its views on important national issues. Somerset Wildlife Trust is very involved and we want to keep our MP's informed of our views. Please visit this web site to keep up to date on development

Planning reforms in England

As the subject is so important for the future of the natural environment I'm sharing my letter to my MP.

For more background click here:

*******************************************

David Heath MP

House of Commons

London    SW1A 0AA

October 5th 2011

Dear Mr Heath,

I hope you will be able to add my voice to the many others expressing concern about the headlong rush to make damaging changes to our planning laws. Over sixty odd years I’ve seen the pressures on the natural environment grow. Recent progress in creating some protection now appears to be stripped away simply to make life easier for developers. 

I’m using advice from the Wildlife Trusts to seek your help in influencing the Government’s reforms to planning in England. I’m also drawing on my involvement in the conservation of a four acre Local Wildlife Site here in Curry Rivel.

The planning system is vital for securing the long term public interest.  However, I am concerned that the Government’s draft National Planning Policy Framework does not include enough protection for the natural environment and gives too much weight to economic growth. 

I strongly believe the Government needs to make the following changes to its planning policy:

·         Re-instate the importance of the natural environment in national planning policy;

·         Require councils to plan for nature’s recovery in their local area as well as new homes and other development;

·         Give specific planning protection to 40,000 Local Wildlife Sites across England; otherwise these important places for wildlife will be under threat.

I hope you will help change Government policy on this vital issue for the future of our country.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

David German 

http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/nppf

Planning law changes

The Wildlife Trust's are concerned about the effect of reducing planning controls over development everywhere in the countryside.  All the Conservation organisations are equally concerned.
Here is what the Campaign to Protect Rural England says on its web site:




"The Government has published a highly sensitive draft National Planning Policy Framework for public consultation. This represents the biggest shake-up of planning for over 50 years and CPRE believes it will place the countryside under increasing threat.

Many elements of the Framework are deeply worrying. In particular, Ministers have failed to commit to the principle that the countryside should be protected for its own intrinsic character, beauty and heritage.
The new Framework will make the countryside and local character much less safe from damaging and unnecessary development.
We fear pressure on the countryside from damaging development will grow due to:

• loss of emphasis on brownfield regeneration - as a result of the removal of the national brownfield target and the failure to promote efficient use of land
• over-allocation of land for new housing - the draft Framework requires local councils to allocate at least 20% additional sites for housing over and above the existing five year supply
• weakening of the ‘town centre first’ policy by removing office development from the sequential test
• pressure for increased car use - by removing the requirement to set maximum parking standards for non-residential parking in major development
• abolition of exceptions policy which allows small scale affordable housing to be built in rural settlements, which is likely to add to pressure for market housing and reduce the supply of affordable housing
• weakening of controls over outdoor advertisements, including no mention of billboards being inappropriate in the countryside
• changes to Green Belt policy which would allow local communities to support building which would previously have been restricted

Please help us protect our beautiful countryside by asking your MP to say no to growth at any cost.

Write to your MP

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Click here to view web site.

Or here.

As part of forming an opinion on the proposed changes it is useful to review the views of other organisations such as the National Trust and  RSPB.

Confused about Government Policy ?

I thought I would try to be non party political in my Blog but today it seems difficult to steer a neutral path through Govt statements.

In my last post I started to look at the new draft planning proposals and I more than ever hope they are draft and a long way from being final! Issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government. ( a Dept I am sure I've never heard off before and their web site doesn't look like a normal Govt site at all. Is there something fishy about this?)
Here is a link to the planning doc, click here 

********************************************************************

Today by chance I came across a news statement by another department of the Govt. This time the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs. Visit by clicking here..

********************************************************************

The former (DCLG) says:
Clause  13. Under the sub heading:-  "The presumption in favour of sustainable development".
"The  Government is committed to ensuring that the planning system does everything it can to support sustainable economic growth. A positive planning system is essential because , without growth, a sustainable future can not be achieved."


Clause 14. "At the heart of the planning system is a presumption in favour of sustainable development, which should be seen as a golden thread running through plan making and decision taking."

*********************************************************************

The latter statement  ( DEFRA) issued  on 19th Aug 2011says:  "New strategy to save and protect England's Wildlife"
.
Launching Biodiversity 2020, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said:

"Our wildlife is not only something that we should value because its nice to look at. Nature underpins our very existence, giving us clean air to breath, clean water to drink and healthy food to eat.
This strategy sets out how we will stop the loss of species and habitats, so that this generation can be the first to leave our natural environment in a better state than they found it."

********************************************************************

I much prefer to follow the lead given by DEFRA than that by DCLG!

PS.  I'll try to add some wildlife photos in my next Blog!

Wildlife podcast Meeting with prospective Members of Parliament

 I'm pleased to see the Somerset Wildlife Trust taking part in a discussion about local issues related to the candidates views on the future of wildlife. Here is the news item from the SWT web site giving a link to the Pod Cast of the debate.

26 March 2010

Wildlife podcast

More than 70 people turned up to quiz the politicians vying for their votes in Taunton Deane, ahead of the general election, at a hustings meeting organised by Somerset Wildlife Trust and Friends of the Earth.

The event, which took place at the Meetings Room, Taunton Library, on March 11, tackled the theme of Somerset’s Natural Environment and explored climate change, wildlife and the food chain.

The hustings were recorded by 10Radio and you can listen to the podcast here by clicking this link: Somerset Wildlife Trust and Taunton Friends of the Earth hustings, 11 March 2010